This time of year gets so hectic, and a lot of it is VERY FUN hecticness. The gingerbread house! Decorating cookies! Decorating the tree! The Christmas stockings!
And in families like mine, which draw upon our two ancestral faiths, only last week it was Chanukah! Dreidel! Menorah!
Whew.
With so much excitement and planning, it’s not always easy to keep our center… So it bears remembering…
The most precious gift you can give your child this holiday season is your own loving presence.
As Kim John Payne says in Simplicity Parenting, “with your time and attention you give love. Simple.”
We do it in so many ways. In the late night medicine for the teething. In that meal we somehow manage to prepare amidst the thousand other things we do in a day. It’s in our care of the home, as best we manage it. Perfectly imperfect.
Whatever it is, it is enough.
So my deepest wish for you this holiday season, and into the new year is this – that you feel and trust in that enough-ness.
May you experience ever deepening presence with the ones you love.
And most of all, with yourself.
You. You seen in the light of your own loving kindness. You, seen through the same loving eyes that you reserve for your children, in those moments when loving is easy.
And I want to say one more thing… Thank you for your presence in my life. In friendship, in kinship, in community. Each of you has enriched me so much. I love learning from you and alongside you. And I look forward to another wonderful year of music and community with you.
Happy Holidays from Meadowlark Music Class!